A Rite of Childhood
by Kristen3
Summary: When David comes home from his grandfather's injured, Daphne tries her best to comfort him. Fluffy one-shot.


"Don't look so sad," Daphne said, reaching out to ruffle David's hair. "You can come back to visit Grandpa again soon. Maybe even tomorrow." She smiled at him.

The three-year-old smiled in response. He loved it when his mother had errands to run, and she dropped him off to spend the afternoon at his grandparents'. But now it was time to go home. Though he didn't talk much yet, he'd made his displeasure quite clear.

"Daddy's going to be home soon," Daphne said as she drove. She was trying to be as upbeat as possible, hoping to get her son's mood to turn around. She hoped it was working. It was heartbreaking to see David so upset.

When she reached a stoplight, Daphne looked over at him in the passenger's seat. She smiled once again. But then she noticed the way he was rubbing his knee. "David, did something happen while you were at Grandpa's? Did you get hurt?" David shook his head, but Daphne was unconvinced. The light changed then, so she would not be able to see if he was injured until they arrived at home.

Daphne's concern only increased as David still seemed bothered by his leg as they made their way into the building. As soon as they were inside the apartment, Daphne led him by the hand into the bathroom. She pushed up his pant leg, and sure enough, she saw a large scrape there on his knee. A small trickle of blood was making its way down his leg. "Oh, David! You should've told me you were hurt!"

David did not seem to react, despite Daphne's obvious worry. Daphne opened the medicine cabinet, desperately looking for band-aids. Usually, she kept a package of David's favorite kind, adorned with characters from _Peanuts,_ on hand. But she must've forgotten to pick them up last time she'd gone to the market. All she could find were plain, brown ones. _Beggars can't be choosers_ , she thought as she grabbed one and opened the paper wrapping.

Just as Daphne was about to place the bandage on the wound, David began to scream. "I know this isn't the kind of bandage you're used to, but it's all we've got. You're going to be fine," she said reassuringly. David's tears continued. "Shhh," Daphne said, pulling him close. "We've got to get that cut covered up, or it might get infected. A plan bandage will do just as well as your _Peanuts_ ones." Daphne kissed his cheek in an effort to make his cries stop. When that didn't work, she decided to try another strategy. "Here, let me kiss your knee and make it better." She placed a kiss directly on the cut. She knew Niles would definitely not have approved of such a thing, out of a fear of germs. But if it would calm her son down, it was more than worth it.

The kiss apparently made David smile, so Daphne took the opportunity to place the band-aid on before he could object. "There," she said. "Everything's going to be all right. In a day or so, you'll be as good as new." She smiled, taking David's hand once again and leading him out of the bathroom.

When they came back into the living room, Niles was just coming home. "Ah, there you two are!"

"Daddy!" David ran straight toward his father, hugging him.

Niles sighed at the feeling of his son's arms around him. Moments like this were priceless, especially considering all he'd had to go through to be with Daphne and have a family. "Well, what did you do today?" Niles asked when the embrace ended.

"David got to visit with his grandfather today while I visited with Roz for a bit," Daphne said.

"Oh, that must've been fun!" Niles smiled at his young son. He always did all he could to encourage his son to speak.

"Boo boo!" David suddenly exclaimed. Niles looked at his wife questioningly.

"Apparently, David scraped his knee while he was playing at your father's. I was just putting a bandage on it when you came in."

"Oh. Well, that's one of the rites of childhood Frasier and I missed out on. We were rarely injured, unless you count paper cuts from reading so much!"

Daphne kissed him. "Well, David's showing a bit more of the Moon genes, I guess. By the time me brothers were his age, they'd already broken several bones! Mostly each other's."

"I know that before he was born, I was worried that David would turn out like your family, but now I'm actually glad he's like this. Frasier and I never got to share Dad's love for sports and the outdoors. Now he can experience those things with David."

"They certainly are the best of friends," Daphne agreed. "David didn't even want to come home when I arrived to pick him up."

Niles ruffled his son's hair. "I'm sure Grandpa would be glad to see you again tomorrow. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

David nodded vigorously.

Daphne smiled, grateful that the boy had forgotten all about the bandage. His cut would heal just the same with a regular band-aid. Clearly, David was much less afraid to explore than his father had ever been. It was a fact for which the entire Crane family was grateful.

 **The End**


End file.
